In A Life’s Work, Rachel Cusk said of a mother and her children: “When she is with them she is not herself; when she is without them she is not herself…The question of what a woman is if she is not a mother has been superseded for me by that of what a woman is if she is a mother; and of what a mother, in fact is.”
In Motherhood, Sheila Heti asked: “What is a woman – who is not a mother – doing that is more important than mothering? Is it possible to even say such a thing – that there is anything more important for a woman to do than mother? I know a woman who refuses to mother, refuses to do the most important thing, and therefore becomes the least important woman. Yet the mothers aren’t important, either.”
What is a mother? How is a mother? Why is a mother?
We’ll read and write these questions through a literary lens, considering the core themes of:
Motherhood and artistry/creativity
Motherhood and mental health/neurodiversity
Motherhood and surrealism/the absurd
Motherhood and humor
Motherhood and culture/society
Motherhood and work
Class will include readings, discussion, writing exercises, the opportunity to develop longer pieces, and hearing and sharing stories of motherhood and mothering with other creative, thoughtful, searching, and soulful writers. There will be opportunities to share writing and receive feedback from the class and instructor, if desired. Class will be six sessions over zoom - October 30 - December 11 (skipping Nov 27 for Thanksgiving). Instructor Gila Lyons has work in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Mothertongue, Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Aeon, Poets & Writers, Ploughshares, and other publications. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and teaches writing and literature at colleges and universities. More information, testimonials, and about the instructor at www.gilalyons.com
The course fee is a sliding scale: $250 - $450 for all six sessions. No one turned away for lack of funds.